A robust numeracy foundation is essential in tertiary health science education, requiring students to confidently execute calculations and interpret clinical data. Despite its importance, studies examining the metacognitive alignment between actual competence and subjective confidence remain limited in countries such as Indonesia. To fill this gap, this study evaluated the health numeracy and corresponding confidence judgments of 149 Indonesian health science students to investigate the systemic calibration between objective accuracy and subjective self-efficacy. Using a cross-sectional design, students completed a paper-based survey without computational aids. Competence was measured via the 21-item General Health Numeracy Test (GHNT-21), paired with a 0–10 subjective confidence scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a one-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test. This study contributes novel empirical evidence by quantifying metacognitive calibration in health numeracy, an aspect rarely examined alongside competence in Indonesian health education contexts. While demonstrating foundational arithmetic proficiency, students exhibited substantial difficulties in multi-step proportional reasoning, spatial mathematics, and probability. Crucially, calibration analysis revealed a significant metacognitive disconnect (p < .001); the predominant student profile displayed profound overconfidence, maintaining high certainty despite low accuracy on complex tasks. Ultimately, these findings highlight the necessity of tailoring numeracy support frameworks that explicitly address students’ mathematical competencies and metacognitive dispositions, ensuring they successfully navigate the quantitative challenges inherent to their academic coursework and future clinical careers.
Numeracy skills are crucial in higher education; however, assessment often places greater emphasis on routine procedures than on the interpretation and evaluation of authentic quantitative information. This study examines the contextual numeracy skills of Indonesian students across various PIAAC proficiency levels, investigates gender differences, and identifies specific error patterns in each task. A descriptive-comparative cross-sectional study design was applied to 406 students (58 males and 348 females) from several state universities in Padang, Indonesia, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using an assessment comprising 20 items adapted from the PIAAC numeracy framework, which had been validated by experts and pilot tested. Percentage of correct responses, the Mann–Whitney U test with a biserial effect size, and item-level error analysis were used in this study. Performance peaked at Level 2 (79%) before declining at Levels 3 (61%), 4 (56%) and 5 (45%), indicating an increasing level of difficulty in higher-level numeracy tasks. Female students achieved higher scores than male students at all levels except Level 5, although significant differences were only found below Level 1 and at Levels 1, 3 and 4, with small effect sizes (0.012–0.230). Error analysis revealed difficulties in three-dimensional visualization, proportional and statistical reasoning, geometric modelling, and interpreting contextual constraints. These findings highlight challenges in advanced quantitative reasoning and provide a diagnostic framework to support authentic numeracy assessment and targeted instructional design in higher education.
Mathematical communication is essential in mathematics learning because it enables students to express, explain, and justify mathematical ideas. Although gamified learning may support student engagement under particular conditions, the relationship between game-oriented participation and meaningful mathematical communication remains insufficiently understood. This study aimed to examine and refine a preliminary Chocolate–Broccoli Engagement Framework describing the relationship between game-oriented participation and mathematical communication in gamified mathematics learning. A multiple case study was conducted across six mathematics classrooms from different secondary schools in Indonesia involving various mathematical topics and gamification environments. Data were collected through classroom observations, teacher reflection notes, and students’ mathematical communication artifacts and analyzed using cross-case thematic analysis. The findings revealed that students demonstrated recurring evidence of Chocolate Engagement characterized by enthusiasm toward competition, rewards, points, and leaderboards. Broccoli Engagement was observed in classroom interactions involving mathematical explanation, evaluation, reflection, and correction of solutions. Mathematical communication was documented through representation and procedural explanation across the cases, whereas justification and argumentation were identified in a more limited set of case-level episodes. Cross-case analysis showed that mathematical discussion was associated with the co-occurrence of game-oriented participation, concept-oriented engagement, and mathematical communication. These patterns informed the refinement of the preliminary Chocolate–Broccoli Engagement Framework, which does not posit a causal, mediating, or temporal sequence. The findings suggest that gamified mathematics activities may provide richer opportunities for mathematical communication when they incorporate structured opportunities for explanation, evaluation, reflection, and justification.
Numeracy is a critical 21st-century competency; however, many students still face difficulties in solving contextual problems due to the limited use of PISA-like tasks in classroom learning. This study aimed to develop PISA-like jumping tasks (JUMPISA) on quantity content within a Jambi tourism context and to examine their potential effects on students’ numeracy. The research employed design research in the form of development studies, involving a preliminary stage and Tessmer’s formative evaluation, including expert review, one-to-one, small group, and field test. Participants consisted of six validators, three students in one-to-one sessions, nine students in small-group trials, and 32 grade VIII students in the field test. Data was collected through document analysis, observations, interviews, and students’ written responses and analyzed descriptively to assess validity, practicality, and potential effects. The findings indicate that JUMPISA is valid in terms of content, construct, and language, practical for classroom implementation, and capable of engaging students in discussing multiple solution strategies. Field test results suggest potential effects on numeracy, as students demonstrated abilities to use quantitative information, analyze constraints, and interpret results in real-world contexts. Integrating JUMPISA with local tourism contexts can therefore support numeracy-oriented learning and classroom practice.
Recent national policy developments in Indonesia increasingly position Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as a strategic driver of innovation, economic competitiveness, and sustainable development. This policy orientation has reshaped research funding, postgraduate scholarship investment, and national innovation agendas, created new opportunities while also redefined the research ecosystem within which mathematics education research is conducted. This editorial examines how STEM-centric national policies influence the future direction of mathematics education research by analyzing their implications for research agendas, interdisciplinary collaboration, human capital development, and disciplinary diversity. Drawing on recent international scholarship and the evolving Indonesian policy landscape, the editorial argues that these developments should be understood not merely as policy reforms but as structural transformations that reshape educational research through interconnected mechanisms of research funding and scholarship investment. Building on international competency frameworks, including the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), the paper further argues that numeracy, adaptive problem solving, and mathematical reasoning constitute essential competencies for technology-rich societies, reinforcing the central role of mathematics education within contemporary STEM initiatives. Rather than positioning mathematics education as a supporting component of STEM, this editorial proposes a reframing of the field from policy adaptation toward intellectual leadership, arguing that mathematics education provides the intellectual architecture through which meaningful STEM education can be conceptualized and sustained. The paper concludes by proposing strategic directions for researchers, higher education institutions, and policymakers to promote research diversification without disciplinary homogenization, thereby strengthening mathematics education as both an independent scholarly discipline and a central contributor to the future development of STEM education in Indonesia and beyond.
